There's A Rocky Exoplanet Out There With Three Glowing Red Suns In Its Sky! - Mashable India

For years, astronomers have been on a lookout for Earth-like planets outside our solar system. NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has been dedicatedly employed to search exoplanets to explore the possibility of finding life in deep space and also, learning the secrets of the evolution of the Milky Way.

NASA’s exoplanet specialist telescope has now hunted down a certain rocky exoplanet locked in a triple-star system approximately 22.5 light-years away from our planet. Being referred to as LTT 1445Ab, the exoplanet is orbiting the primary star of the three red dwarfs that make the system. Hence, if you’re standing on its surface, you can spot three suns in the sky, as per Jennifer Winters, astronomer at Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

The planet-hunting telescope, particularly focusing on exoplanets that pass between Earth and their home star came across the exoplanet, detecting how it was blocking a small percentage of light of its star. The dimming of the planet, as a result, grasped the attention of scientists who observed tiny movements of the star. Scientists could, thus, place constraints on the size and mass of the planet as it pulled the star only slightly owing to its gravity.

About 1.35 times the size of the physical Earth, LTT 1445Ab packs up to 8.4 times Earth’s mass, a lot denser than our home planet. Chances of habitability on this rocky exoplanet are slim even though it falls into the category of Mars, Venus and Earth-like terrain. However, it sure witnesses some really stunning skies. Besides, the new exoplanet could have an atmosphere which keeps scientists charged up for taking a closer look.

Scientists believe that LTT 1445Ab could be an excellent candidate for testing detection tools that are used to look for biogases such as methane and carbon dioxide. The reason being its frequent transitions which will offer ample number of opportunities for scientists for observation. As per cosmic scales, the exoplanet is not very far away from us and is just optimally lit by its stars for a conducive survey. The study has been submitted to the Astronomical Journal and is available on arXiv.

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